Graduate Assistantships

Our graduate students are normally funded through teaching assistantships and research assistantships. A student is expected to work up to 20 hours per week during academic terms, and may work more hours when classes are not in session. There are several possibilities for support.

• Teaching Assistantships usually require students to teach two sections of General Physics Laboratory per week, and to conduct one of our drop-in help sessions each week. Occasionally other teaching assignments are made.
• Research Assistantships require students to assist faculty members with grant-supported research. These are assigned on an individual basis between the student and the faculty member. Some of our current students are supported on research assistantships involving such areas as
  • measurement of airborne pollutants,
  • clouds and tropical atmospheric circulations,
  • photochemical study of the middle atmosphere,
  • acquisition and analysis of radio data from the VLA,
  • measurement and modeling of atmospheric circulation and electrification

  For more details, check our page on student research.

• Other Sources of financial support are possible. Some of our students obtain jobs at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory(NRAO) or at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC), both of which are located on the campus. Such jobs can be applied for directly to NRAO or EMRTC, in most cases after the student has arrived at Tech. In addition, the Graduate Office offers supplementary fellowships to augment a student's assistantship either during the academic year or during the summer. These can be applied for through the Physics department.
• Joint NMT/NRAO Graduate Positions are available. NRAO and NMT are joint sponsors of a program to provide pre-doctoral support for graduate students interested in radio astronomy. This program guarantees support for a total of 5 years, the first 3 on an assistantship through NMT and the final 2 in a pre-doctoral position with NRAO. These fellowships will be awarded as part of the normal graduate student selection process from the applicant pool
• Both NRAO and the National Center for Atmospheric Research offer pre-doctoral fellowships. These fellowships are available to students pursuing the Ph.D., who have completed all degree requirements except the research itself and who are working in areas germane to the research at each institution. NCAR fellowships are part of their Advanced Study Program. NRAO fellowships are part of their Student Support Program. These fellowships require local residency, and are arranged by individual contact between the student and a staff member at NRAO or NCAR. Such contacts are usually established with the help of a faculty member who works with either institution.